Kwame Speaks: Black Labor, White Wealth: Black Unemployment, White Wealth

"The slave went free; stood for a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery." Dr. Dubois, writing in 1935, expresses the sentiment of those times as well as the present day situation. Black labor, since this nation's inception, has been the driving force that not only built this tyrannical country but also sustained it.

As with any labor, it is useful in many ways: it can serve as the actual labor or it can serve as a threat to other laborers. At the dawn of "emancipation," and in some places beforehand, Blacks attained education in hopes of bettering their condition. However, since Brown vs. Board of Education, Blacks have slowly moved back toward slavery, more so in a mental sense than a physical one – although we are still a major force in physical labor.

The court decision rendered from that case claimed that segregation was unconstitutional and legally outlawed segregation, to the demise of Blacks. Blacks began integrating into white schools and also integrated their values, housing, and political agendas. Consequently, the privileged class was given a factitious door leading out of Blackness.

Those who accepted that door as authentic find themselves criticizing the masses of Blacks, typically with no critique of the system. For example, President Barack Obama gave a Black-Fathers-are-MIA-speech on Father's Day a few years ago, or Bill Cosby and his rants of "do better" – irrespective of circumstances – talks he likes to give, as age takes its toll on his neurological functioning. What is absent from these critiques is an analysis of the corrupt system in which we live.

Michelle Alexander points out that "more African-American adults are under correctional control today – in prison or in jail, on probation or parole – than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began." Noting this as factual information and still maintaining the same critique has proven itself to be foul, absurd, and just out right moronic.

Unfortunately, for those who subscribe to those unjust critiques, the present situation has shed light on the realities that the masses of Black people face. One source claims that across the United States, "100,000 to 300,000 public education positions are in danger." The source also states, "pink slips [for possible termination] were sent out to 22,000 teachers in California, 17,000 in Illinois, and 15,000 in New York. The jobs of 8,000 school employees in Michigan, 6,000 in New Jersey, and 5,000 in Oklahoma may also be axed." Given this reality of just one occupation informs the elite that success in America is not guaranteed, even with "hard work."

Another disturbing piece of information claims that unemployment rates, even among those with college degrees (yes you/us elite Negroes too), are twice as high among African Americans than their White counterparts. It appears that regardless of our class situation there are other forces purposely operating against us. Whether we serve as the labor or the potential labor that keeps the other labor in check "white wealth" is still the benefactor.

As Gil Scott-Heron said in his poem B Movie, "…I guess we're all actors in this I suppose" because the only way we can be used to this magnitude is if we consent, passively or actively. We need to use our labor effectively to bring about change and remember that "just because you're unemployed don't mean you're out of work." We need to use our time wisely and live out our life until the expiration date fighting to create the world in which we would ideally want to live.

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Mike Leak
(Published 3-9-11)